WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) – On Monday, the Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership (TNP) released a 63 page report outlining the first steps to take to improve the parks in the city of Warren.
Warren has 22 parks but the report looked at only nine of them. While recommendations were made on how to improve the nine, the report also suggested ways to improve the park system as a whole.
Perkins Park is one of Warren’s principle parks, with ball fields, playground equipment and a walking trail along the Mahoning River.
Two miles away on W. Market Street is AmVets Park which, as was stated in the report, is a park that a great number of people have not heard of.
“We decided that there should be some baseline in what is happening in our parks,” said TNP’s Denise Rising, who led the study.
In the study, they looked at demographics, like people with no vehicle access — the majority lives within walking distance of four of the nine parks.
“They’re concentrated in the same area,” Rising said, which she noted is a good thing.
Among the recommendations, Warren needs active park management, like a board of commissioners and park superintendent. That means an annual budget for maintenance, improvements and programming.
There also needs to be a security plan and a plan for stormwater and flooding.
“They kind of mimic your city,” said Warren councilman John Brown.
Brown said the parks are currently maintained by the operations department, which has four-fifths of the staff it once had.
“So realistically, they’re not taken care of as well as they were in the past. So, I think we need to streamline what we’re doing,” Brown said.
“They’ve been in decline for years,” said Danita Davis, of Warren.
Danita Davis and her husband Ken Davis have suggestions of what they’d like to see done.
“As an Ohio naturalist, I’m interested in bringing more native plants back,” Ken said.
“We need to get things out there for families to do,” Danita said.
Among the recommendations for Perkins Park: remove the scoreboard, improve the signage and organize sports leagues.
At AmVets Park: repair the basketball courts, improve the playground areas and create crosswalks to access the park.
There will be a public presentation of the plan next Monday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. at Grace United Methodist Church.
The report does not have suggestions on how to pay for its recommendations. It’s hoped that financing ideas will be raised at the meeting.
